Humanistic Psychology’s Chief Task

Abstract

SYNOPSISThis article examines professional psychology's shifting paradigms throughout the last 100 years, beginning with its roots in philosophy and concluding with its recent embrace of neuroscience. The main contention of this article is that the evolution of psychology is a philosophical as much as, if not more than, a scientific issue, and that the philosophical fashions of the given times tend to influence the focus of the profession. The author concludes that given this philosophical basis for psychological engagements, existential-humanistic philosophy can and should be the leading candidate for the emerging psychology of the future. In light of its holistic aims, it is argued that the existential-humanistic point of view provides the optimal opportunity to transform professional psychology from the narrow to the broad, and from the mechanical to the awe-based.

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